TOLEDO, Ohio — After months of speculation about a new amphitheater in downtown Toledo, a city and county-backed study has cast doubt on those plans.
The $60,000 CSL International study was commissioned by ConnecToledo, along with the support of the city and Lucas County commissioners. It estimated that a new amphitheater would cost $28.5 million to build and would require substantial public subsidy. There is, however, "substantial demand" to support up to an 8,000-seat venue that could be designed within an existing facility.
"I think the headline here is that we can support up to 8,000 seats based on our demographics, but building something from scratch would be a substantial financial challenge and require substantial public support," said Paul Toth, president of ConnecToledo.
The most damaging part of the report when it comes to building a new facility is that the venue could likely only book 10-15 shows a year, according to the study, ranging from tier-2 acts, such as Pitbull or Kiss, to much smaller acts. The average ticket price would range from $80 for the bigger acts to about $35 for smaller acts. Without having either larger acts or a larger number of acts, it would not make financial sense to spend nearly $30 million, Toth said.
"This study was meant to give everybody a chance to step back and just understand the market dynamics," Toth said. "For 10 to 15 events a year, there's no way you could justify that kind of investment for a new facility. We know that with Fifth Third Field, the county took all the risk on building that there was a guarantee, same thing with the Huntington Center. If we were to do something like this, it would have to be highly subsidized by the public side."
Toth said a more realistic plan would be to take an existing facility, such as Promenade Park, and put infrastructure in place to accommodate 6,500-8,000 fans.
Hunter Brucks and his HBC Management team are leasing Promenade Park to put on a summer concert series, starting later this year. He has estimated that he can eventually put on many more than the 10 to 15 acts predicted by the study. But he was not discouraged by the findings.
"I knew that Toledo could support an amphitheater. Bottom line is that this turned out good," Brucks said.
Brucks envisions a private venture, rather than a publicly funded facility, and he said he is still in talks with city officials on making that happen.
He has yet to announce artists for his summer series, but he said he does have events lined up.
"I think it's going to be a diverse, unique series, and I'm very excited about it."
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